Nine Indian residents who had been stranded in Kyrgyzstan for the past three months, where they were being held hostage and forcibly made to work for a job that they had not signed up for, returned to Bareilly on Saturday.
The remaining three are also expected to return to India by December 30 as their visas are valid until December 31, 2025, officials said, although farmer leader, Dev Swaroop Patel, who met the returning workers in Bareilly, said tickets had not yet been arranged for Harishankar from Jironia village, Ramasre from Bhuda Pipariya village, and Shyam Charan from Baiju Nagar village.
Ravi Kumar, Ajay, Chandrapal, Santram, Rohit, Ramesh, Harswaroop, Shyamacharan, Sanjeev, Prempal, Ramasare, and Harishankar were reported to have been trapped in different cities of Kyrgyzstan for about three months after they were sent on a 59-day visa with a fraudulent contract.
All 12 men, from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, had been duped by a local man who ran a recruiting agency in Pilibhit city and promised them lucrative jobs abroad. Each of them paid ₹2.5 lakh to him to facilitate the travel and the non-existent job.
Upon reaching Kyrgyzstan, the men did not get the jobs that they had been promised, and were instead allegedly held hostage and forced to work elsewhere.
Also Read: 12 Indian labourers stranded in Kyrgyzstan
The scam came to light after one of the men, Rohit, aired a video from Kyrgyzstan of their working conditions. His wife, Premvati, and the kin of several more trapped in the Central Asian country then contacted the authorities on December 5.
Others also uploaded videos on social media recounting their ordeal, complaining of beatings and not receiving their salaries, and appealed to the Indian government to help them return home.
Union Minister Jitin Prasada met the victims’ families in Delhi and contacted the Indian Embassy to facilitate their return.
On Saturday, Pilibhit District Magistrate, Gyanendra Singh, said that the process for the return of the remaining three workers was almost complete, and they would be brought back before the year end. He also appealed to everyone to be vigilant against fraudsters.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police, Abhishek Yadav, said he has assigned the investigation of the case to the Circle Officer (City).
The returning workers’ families have requested Prasada, the Pilibhit MP, to take strict action against those who cheated them and help them recover their money.
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